en.Wedoany.com Reported - The U.S. Department of Commerce has approved California's spending plan under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.

Illinois is the only state that has yet to receive permission to use its funds. The total funding for the BEAD program is $42.45 billion, with most other states having received approval by the end of 2025 or early 2026.

California ranks second in the program's allocation, receiving over $1.8 billion.

The approved plan will cover approximately 270,500 homes and businesses, down from the 339,000 locations mentioned in the draft California BEAD plan released last year.

Among the approved coverage locations, California plans to provide fiber to 53% of sites, low Earth orbit satellite to 27%, and fixed wireless to 20%. In comparison, the draft plan allocated 44% to fiber, 41% to low Earth orbit satellite, and 15% to fixed wireless.

From the draft to the approved plan, the actual number of locations covered by fiber and fixed wireless changed little: fiber decreased by about 5,000, while fixed wireless increased by about 1,000.

The significant reduction in coverage locations primarily came from low Earth orbit satellite, with its coverage dropping from 138,000 locations in the draft to 73,000, a decrease of nearly half.

California plans to allocate $1.4 billion (about 70% of its allocation) to deployment projects. This spending level is relatively rare following reforms by the Trump administration aimed at reducing project costs.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce required states to remove certain locations from low Earth orbit satellite awards, citing new federal maps showing expanded ground coverage or that the locations were not homes or businesses.

An NTIA spokesperson said via email that California's approved results have incorporated these changes.

Other states that have advanced more quickly in the BEAD process will have to modify contracts with satellite internet service providers or incorporate these changes as they move forward with agreements.

State officials said last week that this requirement applies to about half of the low Earth orbit satellite locations across multiple states. An analysis by New York Law School found that 35% to 42% of satellite locations across the entire program could be affected.

At a June 30 U.S. House oversight hearing (when the plan had not yet been approved), NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth told lawmakers that the agency had identified some "mapping anomalies" while reviewing California's interim awards.

Roth said: "There were several examples in California where applicants requested very high funding, ostensibly to serve apartments in remote areas. We had to work with the state to ensure these mapping challenges were addressed."

Regarding the modifications in response to the agency's requirements, Roth stated that "the ball is in California's court."

California's plan still needs approval from the BEAD grant manager—the National Institute of Standards and Technology—before it can sign an agreement with the NTIA and begin using the funds.

At the same hearing, Illinois Democratic Representative Robin Kelly said that the NTIA notified the state on May 26 that it must reduce deployment spending by $100 million to obtain federal approval. Under its draft plan, the state had planned to allocate most of its over $1 billion allocation to deployment projects.

Roth said: "We have communicated to Illinois the changes that need to be seen. The proposal submitted to us did not meet the requirements in terms of improving efficiency and aligning with transaction reform principles." She added that the agency is also awaiting Illinois' response, "and we look forward to seeing their revised proposal."